Four locations in water-scarce northern China have been chosen as possible sites for an "eco-city" development with Singapore, a Chinese official was Thursday quoted as saying. The locations would allow the eco-city project to tap into Singapore's expertise in water technology, China's Vice Construction Minister Qiu Baoxing was quoted as saying in The Straits Times.
He was part of a delegation, led by Vice Premier Wu Yi, whose four-day official visit to the city-state was to end Thursday.
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng said the plan was to build a "socially harmonious, environmentally friendly and resource conserving" city, the newspaper quoted him as saying.
A framework for the project could be ready by November, Wong said.
Singapore's former prime minister Goh Chok Tong, who now holds the influential cabinet post of senior minister, first raised the eco-city idea during an April meeting in Beijing with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, reports have said.
Singapore, an island nation which lacks natural resources including water, has invested billions of dollars in water-related projects including desalination and recycling plants to reduce its reliance on imported water.
Source: Agence France-Presse
